Apparatus for attaching stop elements to the stringers of sliding fasteners



Oct. 16, 1956 H HANSEN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING STOP ELEMENTS TO THE STRINGERS OF SLIDING FASTENERS Filed Nov. 19, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 f 4/ 1 r /4 E 5 j 39 /4 /5 505 I i j i k I I c l 23 25 I 33 28 -47 34 IL! M INVENTOR 7540 m ATTORNEW Oct. 16, 1956 H.'HANSEN 2,766,452

APPARATUS FOR ATT ING STOP ELEMENTS TO THE STRING ING FASTENERS ERS SLID Filed Nov. 19, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1V 5 5 Z 30 4 /2 V H 6 3 i 20 w A I I9 28'\ M INVENTOR By AGWZQA ATTORNEYS Oct. 16, 1956 H. HANSEN APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING STOP ELEMENTS TO THE STRINGERS OF SLIDING FASTENERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 19, 1952 I N VENTOR ATTORNEYS United States atent Ofiice APPARATUS FOR ATTACHEWG STOP ELEMENTS TO THE STRINGERS OF SLIDING FASTENERS Harry Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark Application November 19, 1952, Serial No. 321,325 Claims priority, application Denmark August 12, 1952 4 Claims. (Cl. 1-187) of a slider which is movable along the interengaging rows,

of fastener elements to disengage the latter over a shorter or longer distance starting from one end thereof which will be referred to in the following as the top end. A structure of the character set forth will be referred to in the following as a basic sliding fastener unit.

It is customary to attach the stop elements individually to the two stringers of the basic sliding fastener unit, to which end first one and then the other of the stringers with the rows of fastener elements mounted thereon are introduced into an apparatus for applying and clamping the stop elements.

It is an object of the invention to devise means whereby the stop elements may be applied in a simpler, less expensive and more rapid manner than hitherto possible.

According to this invention, an apparatus for this purpose comprises a clamping seat member, a clamping head located above said clamping seat member and movable up and down relative thereto, said clamping seat mem-' her and said clamping head having co-operating faces shaped to form therebetween two groove shaped seats located at some distance from one another and con structed to receive two stop elements in positions with their backs turned against one another and to permit a basic sliding fastener unit to be slid lengthwise towards said two stop elements whereby the endmost interlocking elements abut said stop elements, a pivoted guide rail having two supply passages for stop elements in posi tions with their backs turned against one another, the said passages normally being located in line with the said groove shaped seats but being adapted upon rotation of the guide rail about its pivot axis to be disaligned relative to said seats, and means for frictionally feeding a continuous strip of basic sliding fastener units along an unsupported path above said clamping head and said guide rail so as to permit an operator to pull said strip downwards to engage the stringers thereof in said seats between the legs of said stop elements, and means for urging said clamping head against said clamping seat member to clinch the stop'elements received therebetween.

By using an apparatus of this construction, the application of the stop elements can be performed with high speed and at the'same time in a reliable manner.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows the apparatus in side elevation,

' Fig. 2 on a larger scale, a detail of the apparatus, likewise in side elevation and partly in section,

Fig. 3 on a still larger scale, the line IH-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 a similar section along the line IV--IV of Fig 2, and

Fig. 5 on the same scale. as in Fig. 1, the operating lever systems of the apparatus in front view.

Returning now to the drawings, more particularly to Figure 1, wherein like reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the various views, 1 is a frame,

on which there is mounted a substantially horizontal arm 2 located at a height above the floor approximately corresponding to that of an ordinary table and carrying at its outer end a device 3 for the attachment of stop elements, the essential components of the said device be-' ing a clamping seat member 4, see particularly Figures 2 and 3, and a clamping head 5 located above said seat member. The clamping seat member 4 is rigidly attached to the arm 2, while the clamping head 5 is mounted on a rod 6 extending down through the clamping seat member and serving to move the clamping head up and down, as will be described hereinafter. jacent faces of the clamping seat member 4 and the clamping head 5 are shaped in such a manner as to form two inclined groove shaped seats 7 and 8 therebetween, the said seats being located at some distance from one another and serving to receive two stop elements 9 and 10 in positions with their backs turned against one another. The top and bottom portions of the seats 7 and 8 are formed by recesses 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b

in the surfaces of the clamping head and clamping seat member respectively, each of these recesses having a depth to receive only one stop element at a time. The stop elements are supplied through supply passages 11 and 12 of a guide rail 13 pivoted at 14 to a post 15 ,extending upwards from the frame. The stop elements are supplied to the passages 11 and 12 in well known manner from a drum 16 through a guide path 17 in such a manner that the stop elements in the two passages 11 and 12 will be closely packed in upright position and will have their backs turned against one an-' other and are thus directly ready to travel fromthe passages 11 and 12 into the seats 7 and 8 between the clamping seat member and the clamping head. In the position indicated in Fig. 1, the passages 11 and 12 are in line with the seats 7 and 8 so that one stop elementmay pass to each seat as described. When the guide rail 13 is rotated downwards, as will be explained here-' inafter, the passages 11 and 12 are closed at their discharge ends by a surface of the clamping seat member along which the end of the guide rail 13 slides during the rotating movement of the guide rail. i

The rod 6, as mentioned, extends down through the clamping seat member and is provided inside the latter with a shoulder 18 engaged by a compression spring 20 located in a bore 19 of the clamping seat member. Be-' low the clamping seat member the rod has a reduced portion 21 forming upper and lower shoulders 21a and 21b respectively, the said reduced portion extending through a hole 22 of an arm 23 pivotally mounted be-' low the clamping seat member. At its bottom end, the rod 21 abuts a pin 24 which is attached to a second arm 25 pivotally mounted below the arm 23, the pivotal movement of the arm 25 being limited by means of stops- 26 and 27 on a pin 28 depending from the arm 2. The arm 25 also carries a second pin 29 engaged by a rod 30 extending up through the clamping seat member and hingedly connected at its top with the guide rail at 31. The rod 30 is kept in constant engagement with the pin 29 by means of a tensile spring 32 suspended between the guide rail 13 and the arm 2. The said connections between the various pins, rods, arms, and abutments are adjustable by means of screw connections that are in- Patented, Oct. 16,. 1956,

a fractional section along.

The ad-' \r dicated in the drawing but need not be described in detail since they are of a conventional design.

The two arms 23 and 25 are coupled to pedals 35 and 36 respectively by means of connection rods 33 and 34. The pedals 35 and 36 are biased by means of springs 37 and, 38 respectively so as to be normally kept in elevated positions.

In the frame 1, a post 39 is pivoted at the level of the arm 2 and is biased by a spring 40 tending to swing the upper end thereof away from the clamping device against a suitable abutment. At the upper end of the pivoted post, there is mounted a guide pin or roller 41, and above the latter, there is arranged a brake member 42 mounted on a pin 43 which is pivoted in the post 39 for rotation about a transverse axis 44 and has an end 45 extending away from the brake member 42 and coupled to the pedal 36 through an upper connection rod 46, a lower connection rod 47 hingedly connected with the connection rod 46, a double armed lever 48 and a connection rod 49.

In the use of the machine, a continuous strip of partly open basic sliding fastener units-i. e. basic sliding fastener units having their sliders somewhat withdrawn from the upper end thereof-is moved in a path indicated by the dotted line 50 in the direction of the arrow 500 the bottom ends of the basic sliding fastener units foremost. In the continuous strip there is a certain distance between the individual basic sliding fastener units so that openings are formed in the strip between the bottom end of each basic sliding fastener unit and the slider of the preceding basic sliding fastener unit. The strip first moves past the clamping head, then across one or more guide rollers 51, if desired, and then across the rod or pin 41 to a constantly rotating driving roller 52, from which the strip moves into a container 53. The strip engages the driving roller 52 at a very slight force only and is therefore fed forward by the latter at a very slight frictional force.

Preparatory to the treatment of an individual basic sliding fastener unit the driving roller 52 is permitted to feed the strip along to such an extent that the basic sliding fastener unit concerned assumes a position where the trailing end of opening between the slider thereof and the bottom end of the basic sliding fastener unit next following is located above the clamping head. The pedal 36 is now fully depressed whereby the arm 25 is swung downwards. The pin 29 thereby permits a downwardswinging movement of the guide rail 13 under the influence of the spring 32. Moreover, the pin 24 permits the rod 6 to move somewhat downwards under the infiuence of the spring 19, whereby the clamping head is pressed firmly against the two stop elements present in the seats 7 and 8, so that these elements are lightly clamped so as to be firmly held in position without however being clinched. The play between the arm 23 and the shoulder 21a is sutlicient to permit the described movement of the rod 6.

Also, as a result of the depression of the pedal 36, the brake member 42 is pressed against the rod or pin 41 to firmly grip the strip of basic sliding fastener units.

Now, the operator grips the strip at 5012 and pulls it downwards to the position 500 in level with the seats 7 and 8 of the clamping head, the latter thereby penetrating the opening of the strip so that the two stringers will assume positions on one and the other side of the clamping head respectively. The operator now pulls the strip backwards whereby it is subjected to tension by swinging the arm 39 in the direction of the clamping head against the influence of the spring 40. Due to the tension of the strip the opening thereof embracing the clamping head will tend to assume a rectilinear shape, i. e. the beads forming the edges of the opening will be urged inwards and will therefore penetrate from the sides into the seats 7 and 8 and between the legs of the stop members seated therein. As the backward pulling is continued the heads will slide longitudinally through the gaps between the legs of the stop members until the endmost fastener members at the trailing top end of the basic sliding fastener unit under treatment abut the stop members.

Now, the pedal 35 is fully depressed. Thereby the arm 23 is swung downward and engages the shoulder 21b of the rod 6 to move the latter and thereby the clamping head 5 downwards so that the clamping head is caused to perform a final clamping or clinching stroke during which the stop elements 9 and 10 are clinched firmly around the beads of the stringers of the basic sliding fastener unit immediately adjacent the ends of the rows of fastener elements.

Now the pedal 35 is again released. Thereby the arm 23 is swung upwards and by engagement with the shoulder 21a of the rod 6 lifts the latter to a position in which the clamping head no longer engages the stop members which, owing to the clinching operation, are now flatter than in the initial stage. Consequently the completed sliding fastener unit is no longer clamped between the clamping head and the clamping seat member, and the operator can therefore now throw the strip up above the clamping head. Thereafter the operator releases the strip which is therefore pulled forward in a jerk by the arm 39 which now swings back to the left under the influence of the spring 40. The pedal 36 is now also released and consequently the brake member 42 is lifted so that the strip, which has already been set in motion, will rapidly be fed forward by friction from the driving roller 52 until the next basic sliding fastener unit arrives in position for treatment.

By the release of the pedals, all parts of the stop element applying device have been returned to their original positions. Hereby e. g. the passages 11 and 12 and the guide rail 13 have again assumed positions in line with the seats 7 and 8, so that two fresh stop elements can slide into the latter. Thus, the apparatus is ready for the attachment of the next pair of stop elements as soon as the next basic sliding fastener unit has arrived in operating position.

It will be understood that other modifications and arrangements in structure could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, and accordingly it is desired to comprehend such modifications and substitutions of equivalents as may be considered to come within the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. An apparatus for attaching stop elements to the stringers of a basic sliding fastener unit at the ends of the rows of fastener elements, comprising a clamping seat member, a clamping head located above said clamping seat member and movable up and down relative thereto, said clamping seat member and said clamping head having co-operating faces shaped to form therebetween two groove shaped seats located at some distance from one another and constructed to receive two stop elements in positions with their backs turned against one another and to permit a basic sliding fastener unit to be slid lengthwise towards said two stop elements whereby the endmost fastener elements abut said stop elements, a pivoted guide rail having two supply passages for stop elements in position with their backs turned against one another, the said passages normally being located in line with the said groove shaped seats but being adapted upon rotation of the guide rail about its pivot axis to be dis aligned relative to said seats, and means for frictionally feeding said continuous strip of a basic sliding fastener unit along an unsupported path above said clamping head and said guide rail so as to permit an operator to pull said strip downwards to engage the stringers thereof in said seats between the legs of said stop elements, and means for urging said clamping head against said clamping seat member to clinch the stop elements received therebetween.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1, and further comprising gripping means located in the path of movement of the basic sliding fastener strip and constructed to grip said 5 strip, said gripping means being resiliently movable in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the sliding fastener strip.

3. An apparatus as in claim 2, in which said guide rail and said gripping means are coupled to a common operating member.

4. An apparatus as in claim 3, and further comprising a stop member coupled to said common operating member and adapted in the non-operated position of the latter to keep the clamping head in a lifted position, but in the operated position of said operating member to per- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 476,504 Woodward June 7, 1892 605,574 Field June 14, 1898 2,135,717 Konofi Nov. 8, 1938 2,205,616 Chappius June 25, 1940 2,275,769 Kiessling Mar. 10, 1942 2,631,638

Levine Mar. 17, 1953 

